The Only Portuguese Custard Tarts Recipe You'll Ever Need (2024)
Few pastries have won over as many hearts (and tastebuds) as Portuguese custard tarts.
Visitors line up outside popular bakeries for them. Locals have strong opinions about which places make the best.
The treats in question are Portuguese custard tarts, or pastéis de nata. What came about as a result of some 18th-century monks doing laundry (yes, really) has grown into one of the most iconic pastries in the world.
While eating a pastel (or multiple pastéis) de nata in Lisbon is understandably a bucket-list dream for so many people, there’s no need to wait until you’re able to travel to Portugal to try them. With this Portuguese custard tarts recipe, you can bring Lisbon’s most beloved pastry to life at home.
The origin of a Portuguese favorite
Remember those laundry-washing monks we mentioned earlier? Let’s go back to them for a second.
Said monks lived at the Jerónimos Monastery in Belém, a seaside neighborhood west of central Lisbon. It was common for them to use egg whites to starch their clothes when washing them, but they soon realized that they had a lot of leftover yolks to deal with.
So the monks did what most people had been doing with egg yolks in Portugal for ages: used them in baked goods. Soon, the first pastéis de nata were born.
In 1820, the Liberal Revolution in Portugal cut off funding to religious institutions. In order to raise money to keep the monastery afloat, the monks began selling their pastries, which before long became a hit.
However, it wasn’t enough, and the monastery ended up closing anyway. When closing up shop, the monks sold their Portuguese custard tarts recipe to the local sugar refinery and called it a day.
Knowing that they had a winner on their hands, the owners of the sugar refinery opened their own bakery just down the street from the old monastery. The bakery is still there today, and if you’ve visited Lisbon, you may have even been there: the original Pastéis de Belém.
Where to eat Portuguese custard tarts in Lisbon
The original Portuguese custard tarts recipe at Pastéis de Belém has become so iconic that many people simply refer to the treats as pastéis de Belém. But it’s not the only place in Lisbon with tarts worth trying.
On our Tastes & Traditions of Lisbon food tour, we cap things off with a pastel de nata at Manteigaria in the Chiado neighborhood. Here, they’re always served warm, and it’s fascinating to be able to watch the bakers hard at work.
Another standout spot is Confeitaria Nacional, Lisbon’s oldest and most storied traditional pastry shop. Not only are the custard tarts themselves unbelievably good, but the place itself is visually stunning with a gorgeously preserved 19th-century interior.
Ready to try these beauties for yourself (and too impatient to wait until your next trip to Portugal)? Let’s make some pastéis de nata!
Portuguese custard tarts recipe
Makes 12 custard tarts
Ingredients
280 grams (1 1/3 cup) white sugar
80 milliliters (1/3 cup) water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 lemon peel, cut into strips
1 cinnamon stick
355 milliliters (1 1/2 cups) whole milk
43 grams (1/3 cup) all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 large egg yolks
One 250 gram (8.5 oz) sheet pre-rolled puff pastry
Ground cinnamon and powdered sugar, for dusting on top (optional)
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 290 degrees Celsius (550 degrees Fahrenheit). Lightly grease a 12-cup muffin tin.
Add the sugar, water, vanilla extract, lemon peel, and cinnamon stick to a saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook without stirring until a thermometer reads 100 degrees Celsius (220 degrees Fahrenheit).
In a separate pan, thoroughly whisk together the milk, flour and salt. Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes, whisking constantly. When the mixture is well combined and the milk has thickened, remove from the heat and set aside to cool for 10 minutes.
Once the milk mixture has cooled, whisk in the egg yolks. Remove the cinnamon stick from the sugar syrup and pour that into the milk mixture as well. Mix until well combined, then strain into a measuring jug.
Cut the pastry sheet in half across the longer side. Stack the two pieces of dough on top of each other and roll tightly into a log from the short end. Cut the log into 12 evenly sized pieces.
Place one piece of pastry dough into each of the 12 cups of the muffin tin. Dip your thumb into cold water, then press down into the center of the dough and press outwards to form a small well. Repeat for all 12 cups. The top edge of the dough should extend just barely past the top of the muffin tin.
Fill each cup 3/4 of the way to the top with the custard filling.
Bake until the custard starts to caramelize and blister and the pastry crust turns golden brown, about 10–12 minutes.
Serve warm with powdered sugar and ground cinnamon sprinkled on top if desired.
And soon, you may notice a few of the usual suspects that are always on display. The most popular sweet is Lisbon's pastel de nata, otherwise known as pastéis de nata or pastel de belém (or, as some foreigners simply call them: custard tarts in Lisbon).
British tarts use the less flavoursome shortcrust pastry, which doesn't provide as much textural contrast with the smooth custard. They are also topped with nutmeg, which fails to bring the custard alive as Portugal's cinnamon does. Worse, they are now almost all mass-produced with palm oil-based pastry.
Pastel de nata (Portuguese: [pɐʃˈtɛl dɨ ˈnatɐ]; pl. : pastéis de nata; Portuguese: [pɐʃˈtɐjʒ ðɨ-])) or pastel de Belém is a Portuguese egg custard tart pastry, optionally dusted with cinnamon.
But the simplest explanation is that pastéis de nata is the generic term, whereas pastéis de Belém has become popular due to the prestige of this particular pastry shop. Although the latter technically refers to the ones made here, it's often used to talk about Portuguese custard tarts in general.
No trip to Lisbon is complete without eating a pastéis de nata (or a few!). These Portuguese egg custard tarts are the perfect anytime-snack and really satisfy any sweet cravings you may have.
Perhaps the most famous Portuguese dessert, Pastel de Nata or Pastel de Belém is a custard tart pastry with a crisp, flaky crust and a creamy custard filling. This is a true icon when it comes to dishes to try in Portugal.
There are three main varieties of custard: baked custard, stirred custard, and steamed custard. The first two are both popular in Western cuisine. Baked custard is typically firmer and made with whole eggs, while stirred custards can be much runnier and often only contain the yolks.
A specialty all over Lisbon, pasteis de nata are the famous Portuguese egg tart pastries. They have a flaky crust with a custard filling and are best enjoyed topped with a dusting of powdered sugar & cinnamon!
The Portuguese tarts rely more on egg yolks to impart richness, whereas a standard custard relies more heavily on milk or cream. Using that many egg yolks is what gives these little parcels their rich flavor and luscious texture.
While Portuguese tarts are delicious on their own, you can enhance the flavor by adding a sprinkle of cinnamon or powdered sugar on top. Some people also enjoy pairing it with a cup of coffee or a glass of port wine for a delightful combination.
They can be enjoyed warm or cold. If you've made a batch but don't want to eat them all they will freeze well. Just place a few in a tupperware box and freeze for up to 3 months. You probably won't need to though as they will all disappear pretty sharpish!
History of the Pasteis de Nata (Portuguese Custard Tarts)
Initially produced in Belem, Lisbon, the origin of the pastel de nata is sacred and spiritual, known as the pastel de Belem. This delicacy was created before the 18th century by Catholic monks in the Jeronimos Monastery, a UNESCO World Heritage Site today.
Portuguese Custard tarts are available worldwide but to really try the best in the world (and there's very little debate about it once you try one), you need to pay a visit to Lisbon. The most famous place to buy them is Pastéis de Belém on Rue de Belém.
Pastéis de Belém made the best Portuguese tarts in the world. I will not miss the chance to try the famous Portuguese tart. I was actually vacationing in Porto, but I took a train to Lisbon and stay there for one night, all of those just for Pastéis de Belém.
Pastel de nata is a Portuguese egg tart pastry, common in Portugal. Those found at Pastéis de Belém have become legendary for their super secret recipe. Any day of the week, a line trails out the door waiting to savor one of tens of thousands made daily.
The first-ever version of Pastel de Nata was baked over 200 years ago. The Pastéis de Belém have been in operation since 1837, and it is believed that the first-ever version of this dessert was baked over 200 years ago in the very same spot by nuns at the nearby Mosteiro dos Jerónimos.
Introduction: My name is Terence Hammes MD, I am a inexpensive, energetic, jolly, faithful, cheerful, proud, rich person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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